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Blog topic: Secure Your Computer

When you want free consumer information — for yourself or a group — the FTC is ready to take your order. Looking for identity theft brochures to share with your book club? We’ve got them. Online safety handouts to use in the classroom? Right here. Bookmarks about charity fraud to distribute at a community fair? Absolutely. Our new and better bulkorder site is your gateway to almost 200 free publications for consumers and businesses.

Happy October! Along with fall foliage, sweater weather, and shorter days, you’ve probably noticed Halloween-themed candy and décor lining store shelves. While the start of October may remind us that the spookiest day of the year is just around the corner, it also kicks off National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM).

National Cyber Security Awareness Month reminds everyone to practice safe online habits — not just this month, but throughout the year. We have resources to help.

Have you gotten an email with the subject line “Pending consumer complaint” that looks like it came from the FTC? The email warns that a complaint against you has been filed with the FTC. It asks you to click on a link or attachment for more information or to contact the FTC.

These emails pull out all the stops to look official: They have an FTC seal, references to the “Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)” and a “formal investigation,” and what look like real FTC links. The truth is that they’re fakes.

“Hereby you are notified that you have been scheduled to appear for your hearing that will take place in the court of Tallahassee in April 02, 2014 at 09:00 am.” Signed, the Clerk to the Court. Sound official?

Like the fake funeral notices we wrote about recently, emails like this have been going around trying to convince concerned — or curious — people to click on the supposed “court notice.”

You’ve heard it a million times: Don’t click on links in an email unless you know who sent it and what it is.

But sometimes the link in an email is just so darned convenient. For example, you ship a package to a friend, and then you get an email with a link to track the delivery. It’s safe to click that link, right?

The FTC is gearing up for its “Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World” workshop on November 19, 2013. The goal is to explore issues of consumer privacy and security when it comes to the connectivity of everyday devices. Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google, is the keynoter.

When the White House proclaimed October 2004 to be National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the Internet looked very different than it does today. Smartphones and social networks are just two of the dramatic changes of the last decade. Americans are communicating more frequently, with more people, and sharing more personal information than ever.